Episode 1, Scene 1. Boardroom meeting, charts showing sales figures on the up, 3 people sit around the boardroom table.
You can cut the tension with a knife...
Though there are signs that belts are loosening and that companies are investing in creativity, when communicating with their audience. However, one of the biggest challenges faced by the marketing dept is that the board and shareholders of most UK businesses are interested in 'What's happening now?', 'How many leads are the sales team getting?', 'What support have the sales team got?'. So marketing in many cases is a function of the sales operation. We're not making this up, it's what some senior marketing people are telling us.
Video, is a relatively new marketing tactic and when done well is a fantastic way of communicating to an audience. It's immediate, engaging and gives a company the opportunity to be liked and understood. Given a less pressing business environment I dare say that video could and should be the major tactic in building brand and empathy to your offering.
A great example of how IBM are using video. Fantastic views, likes and comments. How does you measure the ROI - Should you?
However, what it doesn't do is offer ROI. Sure you can tell how many people watched it. If you've promoted it through the channels that your audience attend then you can get a rough estimation on the type of people that are viewing your content. But the problem is, it stops there.
Over the last few years interactive video has begun to take hold in retail. 'Shoppable' or 'click-to-buy video contains a series of hotspots on the screen that enable the viewer to investigate products and buy straight through the screen. Asos, Juicy Couture and Nike are just a few who have produced significant campaigns showcasing they technology.
Business and factual web video production specialists, The Peloton, have developed technology that allows interactive video to be harnessed for B2B purposes. The product itself is an invisible HTML5 overlay that sits on the video. At certain points within the film the user can be prompted to answer questions, fill in their contact details, decide on the path of the film they wish to take and much more.
Behind this overlay sits a dashboard that collects all of these results and keystrokes allowing downloads of lead data and an analysis into that viewer's interests.
Our development partner, Campden Media, commissioned 18 videos for their pharmaceutical clients, that firstly allowed them to fit compliance and secondly asked the user to state they were medical professionals. During the films, the audience are prompted to answer a number of questions about their choice of prescriptions for the related condition and that data is collected for lead purposes. The audience is logged into the site therefore each user's attitudes and interests are measured against their log-in detail.
The user reaches the point whereby questions are asked to allow the video to continue.
A dashboard measures response individually and collected into charts.
These videos had some of the highest response for lead generation material the company had seen. There were a number of repeat bookings and pharmaceutical companies continue to book these Interactive 'E-details' 2 years on. Further possibilities lie in training, research and polling, customer relationships, storytelling, competitions and quizzes.
Here's a glimpse of what the technology offers..
As video becomes measurable and responsive, useful data and leads are collected. So next time you have to sell video to the board, interactive video might just be your answer.
Thanks to Jon Westbrook for sharing his thoughts and opinions in this blog post. Jon runs specialist factual and business video producers ThePeloton. Having spent the last 5 years in video there are few that understand this area better in B2B. Focussing on the development of web video has been both exhilarating and exhausting, as for the next 5 years, well Jon will keep you informed. You can connect with him on LinkedIn or follow him on Twitter.
By Expert commentator
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